Kalypto
by She's a Pistol
Summary: An exchange student appears in Kurama's class and he's suspicious of her for good reasons. When she suddenly crashes one of the team's missions she has a lot of explaining to do, but she won't spill. As the gang gets to know her while she accompanies them on their quest to rid the Human World of evil, they find there's a lot more going on than she can handle on her own.
1. Hey, You're Crazy Bitch

A/N So I got all jealous crossyourteez, owlloveyou, and hollyandthediamonds not only had cool pennames (which prompted me to change mine), but had rad ass stories. I can't focus for shit though, so when I developed this plot with hollyandthediamonds (THANK YOU!) she suggested something that was way out of my comfort zone, plot-wise. And I worked really hard on it (haha not really) but I am not at all patient with leads into where OCs appear in the show's timeline and such. So, while it seems rushed, I don't want this to be a three year project or I'll lose interest and just stop updating completely. So it's a little rushed but action-packed and will hopefully be completed sometime.

Chapter 1: Hey, You're Crazy Bitch

A new girl sat alone in the classroom when Kurama arrived. She must have been a new student, but was obviously foreign with red hair and pale skin. Her hair, while not being the fire engine red Kurama's was, was still a contrastingly bright copper and was notably long; even tied back into a ponytail it reached past her shoulder blades. Her bangs were shaggy and she had to constantly flip them out of her eyes, which she did either by blowing them or tossing her head. Using her hand or even securing them out of her face with bobby pins would probably be too much of a hassle, Kurama thought amusedly as he approached his seat.

He greeted her politely, which she returned but did not make any further move to communicate, choosing to stare at her desktop. He took his seat in the same row as her in the back, and watched her out of the corner of his eye as she took a book out of her bag and opened it. It was titled in English, but was thick and appeared to be a textbook of some sort.

Other students began to filter into the room. They all took notice of the new girl and all ignored her, save for a few petty remarks by other girls. The new girl didn't seem to care, but he knew she must have heard them. A look of perpetual boredom took over her features until the teacher came in. He did roll call and the class found out her name was Millions Lucky. She cringed as he butchered her name with his accent but did nothing to correct him, as the Japanese language went.

He asked if she would like to say hello and introduce herself, being the exchange student. She declined, very unusual and borderline rude. He looked down at his attendance sheet, where everyone knew notes were written about the individual students, and back up at her and said that was fine. The class hummed quietly with invented gossip. How unusual.

Throughout the day Lucky never raised her hand, and was never called on but was always the first to finish assignments. The couple of times she had to walk around the classroom she would bash her hip or thigh into a desk. She was exceptionally clumsy, it seemed. Her walk had an unusual gait, like it wasn't natural for her to step heel-toe, and her stride had to accommodate the odd rhythm of walking on the balls of her feet which caused her to look disjointed. The gossip became vicious and loud enough to carry to her hearing range but she never acknowledged it. When she thought she wasn't being watched, she was scanning the heads of her classmates, and always came back to stare at Kurama. He knew his coloring was unusual for his supposed Asian genetic disposition, but she stared him down like she was wise to him.

She drew further attention to herself when a huge insect flew in through the window and headed for her. Kurama could feel the demonic energy it emitted, and instantly thought of the Makai insects. Before he could puzzle out what they were doing in the Ningenkai, it landed on Lucky's desk and she didn't hesitate to slam her palm on it. She looked mildly disturbed when she lifted her hand to look at the splatter, which disappeared before their eyes.

All the heads swiveled in her direction to witness the new girl lift her hand and look at a nonexistent something she apparently thought she squished. Mutters using new descriptions about the now "crazy" girl began afresh, while she didn't seem to doubt what she had done and rolled her eyes at their peers.

By the last bell Kurama had overheard that she was part Sasquatch, a leprechaun in disguise, a spy, a soul-devouring demon, and was a direct descendent of Erik the Red. He laughed quietly at all of the theories. Ridiculous what fear of the unknown can spark. Numerous girls who had an interest in him romantically tried to include him in their petty rumors, but he refrained, politely ignoring them in a way only he can.

A boy in the class approached her. The girls in the room stopped and held their breath. Lucky finally looked up at him.

"We didn't get properly introduced this morning. My name is Lee Ren. It's nice to meet you." He held out his hand and she shook it apprehensively.

"Millions Lucky," she responded formally. He noticed she was wearing black combat boots with her uniform. Everyone was still listening to their conversation, moving slowly to put their homework in their bags so the rustling would prevent them from hearing the forbidden words he was speaking to this outsider.

"Can I walk you home? I would like to point out a few things to you so you don't get in trouble here. Your boots for one. We have a strict dress code, and I'd hate for you to get in trouble for something as inoffensive as that."

A look of irritation crossed her face, and she went to stare at the floor again. "I don't need you to walk me home or tell me how things are done. Telling me about my boots is really unnecessary and that rule is stupid because what I wear has absolutely no influence on how well I perform academically." She stood up, grabbed her black leather briefcase (also not standard) off the hooks on the side of the desk, and left the room, jarring her shoulder in the doorway as though she misjudged her body size in relation to where the opening was. She must be covered in bruises the way she moves about.

No one could believe how she handled herself. Muttering broke out chastising her rudeness, stupid American. Kurama's curiosity was piqued but he wasn't about to do anything about it. She seemed obviously planted by someone. She sure didn't act much like an exchange student, at least not like the other ones they've had in their school. She was rude, and didn't appear to know how to interact with her peers. She didn't want to socialize with her classmates. Granted, it was the first day but she didn't even try to talk to anybody and kept to herself. And refusing to introduce herself to the class and disrespecting the teacher led him to believe she was somewhat anti-authority. There was definitely something off about her. He continued putting his things away while he mulled over these thoughts and subsequently left the room to meet with Boton about some mission to help Yusuke, trying to push the worries away. If there was something that unsettled Kurama, it was not knowing people's motives.

Two hours later Kurama finally met up with Boton, after walking his mother home from work and ensuring that she wouldn't ask questions about his absence by convincing her he was going to tutor another classmate and will be spending the night there. Shiori was delighted that her son had a friend to do such things with.

Boton and Hiei were waiting at their designated meeting spot, the basement of the warehouse, where she had already pulled up the stone revealing the swirling energy of the barrier. Kurama nodded his greeting to Hiei as Boton fretted, visibly distraught.

"Some girl jumped in the portal!" she moaned. "I don't know what she was thinking! Kuwabara jumped in and out of nowhere she pushed me out of the way and tackled Yusuke in along with herself! I didn't even sense her!" Kurama was instantly on edge.

"What did she look like, Boton?" he asked stonily.

"I don't know! She was wearing black and purple and that's all I saw. And her hair was a bright orange." She poked the tips of her index fingers together and pouted about how mad Koenma-sama was going to be. Kurama's lips pursed into a tight line.

"We'll take care of it. Coming, Hiei?" Hiei grumbled and together they fell into the mass of energy.

Landing on the other side, they found a mass of hooded apparitions consuming Yusuke, a boy in a blue _gakuran_, and a girl in a wave.

Upon the light of Kurama and Hiei entering the field and alighting on a tree branch, the gouls scattered allowing Kurama to identify the female member.

It was Millions. Firey hair in a large messy bun, wearing a purple spandex top with presumed thumbholes under hot pink fingerless fighting gloves, black cropped compression leggings, accessorized with a pair of electric blue athletic shoes with lime green laces and KO on the sides, and a wide black headband. Around her right thigh was a black leather holster _holding a shiny silver revolver_.

What in the world?

"It seems you could use some help," Kurama began carefully.

"If those nothings were too much for you, we're going to have some serious trouble," Hiei chided. They jumped to the ground. Kurama nodded at Millions.

"Minimino," she greeted as casually as though they had run into each other at the grocery store. It was by far the friendliest gesture she had made in the one day span he had known of her existence.

"You know him?" the Spirit Detective blinked at her in confusion.

"We're in the same class," she responded simply.

"So, thieves, what are you doing here?" Yusuke turned back to the newcomers. Millions watched Kurama warily. Her eyes appear to change color given her heart rate. During school when she was bored they were a dark chocolate brown with a hint of grassy green, but now they had shifted to more of a pure olive green and the pupils were pinpricks. Was she on drugs?

He explained they were going to be pardoned by Koenma if they aided Yusuke in this mission. Hiei made a couple rude comments about how he felt about humans being below himself and that as far as he was concerned they were babysitting.

"And what, pray tell, are you doing here, Millions?" Kurama asked her, mainly to avoid whatever threat hung in her eyes that she was about to unleash on Hiei.

"Oh, you know, pretty lights coming from warehouses and I just couldn't help myself." Her tone was light and friendly with a funny edge of sarcasm. She knew exactly what she was doing when she jumped into the portal.

Yusuke sniggered. "Yeah, get a load of this chick. I'm telling Boton about how I ditched Keiko and this broad comes out of nowhere and shoves me through the barrier breach. When we land she goes 'I'm Millions Lucky and we're friends now.' Like I wanna be friends with this crazy bitch?"

Millions didn't look insulted at all. Kuwabara muttered something about it being too dangerous for girls, and she responded with, "_He-llo_. I can kick ass. I'm a blackbelt in like every martial art there is. And I have some power, or else I wouldn't be here would I? I wouldn't have seen the portal. So suck it up, buttercup."

"And how exactly did you know it was a portal?" Kurama's suspicion was raging. She shrugged, trying to look casual.

"I've been seeing shit since I was a kid. And those weird bugs flying around? Not a friggen coincidence, partner."

"You're really off-putting, do you know that?" Hiei spat at her. She clucked her tounge in a tut and rolled her eyes, opening her hands in front of him.

"Oh dear, no fucks to give," she sighed. "Are we gonna do this shit or not?"

Yusuke's eyes just about bugged out of his head. "What the hell is wrong with you?! We're in the demon dimension, and you're so damn gung-ho about this! We could DIE, ya know!"

While he was ranting, Millions had taken her revolver out of her holster and a handful of bullets which were in holders along the waist straps of her holster. She loaded her gun, apparently tuning him out.

"And what the hell is with the gun? Don't you know anything? Bullets AREN'T going to kill a demon!"

"Shut up!" she hissed. "They're bullets filled with holy water. Dumbass." Yusuke gaped like a fish.

"Holy water bullets! Where did you get those?"

"Made them."

At the shocked silence that followed, she continued. "I'm very mechanically-inclined. I made this revolver by hand after my diagrams. It's one of my obsessions."

"Obsessions? I don't know if I like the sound of that…" Kuwabara scratched his head.

She wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. "I have a condition called Asperger's Syndrome, or AS. We call ourselves 'aspies.' It's a form of high-functioning autism."

Yusuke rubbed his chin. "Autism, eh? I've been hearing that word thrown around the news a lot."

"Yes, it's been something of an epidemic in the States for reasons I'm not going to get into right now or I'll keep ranting. I don't know when to stop talking a lot of the time. I'll be completely oblivious to how the person I'm talking to doesn't care; which, by the way, is a sign of Asperger's. So I just don't speak at all. Asperger's is characterized by a crazy high IQ but not being able to understand social cues, and having a lot of very specific obsessions. Today you saw me reading a book, Kurama, as I assume is your real name. It was a college textbook for genetics. I am very interested in the genetics behind red hair, since I myself have red hair. I don't give two shits about blue eyed blondes or green-eyed brunettes. I only care about redheads and why their eyes are the color they are. Do you know how rare green eyed redheads are? And the shade of your hair is even rarer. There are different 'types' of redheads, classified by skin tone and eye color. But I digress. Do you see how easy it is for me to launch into rambling dialog?"

The others nodded and Hiei looked ready to slit her throat to keep her from talking any more.

"I'm also insanely clumsy, which you'll no doubt notice as we go into that fun house," she gestured to Maze Castle.

"There is no 'we,' Millions," Kurama started. She shot him a nasty look and pulled the hammer back on her gun, which made him stop his speech abruptly.

"Great. No further objections?" And she led the way into the castle, humming a cheery tune.


	2. I May Be Rude, But I'm the Truth

A/N Thank you all so much for your favorites, follows, and reviews! I actually have fans and it makes it soo much more fun to write when I know I have an audience :D Any inconsistencies would be nice to be notified of, but in a nice, constructive way, not a flame because flames make me have a tizzy. This chapter isn't much new, mostly a recap of last chapter but I wanted to post something to see if anyone liked the way this character is turning out.

Chapter 2: "I May Be Rude, But I'm the Truth"

After school and her run-in with her classmate, Lucky headed home to change into more suitable clothes for her parkour workout. She picked up her holster as an afterthought, and fastened the two straps on her thigh and one around her waist, and slid her double barrel revolver into it and packed extra of her special ammo.

You never know when having such a weapon will be handy, and since she arrived in this city she had seen those strange bugs buzzing around. It seemed other people couldn't see them, and there had been reports of an epidemic of individuals falling to lunacy fits.

Before leaving, Lucky picked up an orange pill bottle and popped two of the tablets into her mouth, swallowing them with a mouthful of water directly from the sink faucet, sans cup. Instead of heading to the street, she went to the roof of her apartment building. From there she could avoid people, and in Japan there were so many people crammed into such a small square mileage that it made her social anxiety spike. Besides the gun strapped to her thigh, she felt others stared at her, like they knew there was something wrong with her.

The buildings were close enough that she could just leap from one building to another, vaulting over air exhaust vents and grabbing onto ladders to get to the top of stairwell roofs to jump to the next building. Once she even grabbed a pole supporting a clothesline someone had erected and swung around, the grip of her gloves keeping her from losing her shit and falling to her death.

She had just flipped over the opening between two warehouses in the more deserted industrial area of town when a trio of individuals talking in an alleyway got her attention. She jogged back to the opening and peered down to the ground. Laying on the ground near them was someone in a flasher's trench coat. His hat had been knocked from his unconscious body and his skin was green with blotchy, purple stripes. Her breath caught in her throat as she eavesdropped on the group as they discussed some mission to stop the "Saint Beasts." The one in green, Yusuke, was none too keen to take on this mission, but the loud carrot top (Kuwabara) seemingly wanted to prove his worth to the cause. Whatever cause that was. Possibly just to score a date with the blue-haired chick, who they called Botan.

Eventually the group disappeared and very odd aurora of lights erupted from the doorway of the building she was standing on. She had to take a closer look.

Taking in her surroundings, she saw there was a fire escape on the next building. She backed up, took the jump, and missed the first three rungs of the ladder. Her heart plummeted along with her body, but by some inconceivable stroke of luck she grabbed onto the last rung with her left hand. She hung for a few seconds, recovering from the shock and holding her breath in an effort to make her heart stop pumping at the pace of a machine gun. Once her head stopped spinning she hooked her leg onto a neighboring scaffold which was abandoned with the metal skeleton of a partially made building, and hopped down along different pieces of metal framework to an eight foot drop to the ground, where she fell back on her butt from shaking so hard.

"Oh my God, I almost died…Not that I would have felt it with that Tramadol…" She finally turned to the situation at hand, and slowly pried open the door, which had been left slightly ajar. A set of stairs met her and, she ducked behind the wall at the top, listening to the two boys and girl down below. They were standing in front of a hole in the floor, but the hole was filled with swirling light.

"A portal!" she wanted to squeal but bit it back.

Kuwabara jumped into it. The other two stared in shock, and then Botan grabbed Yusuke before he could join his friend. She gave him a "communication mirror," and he yabbered to her about how he ditched his presumed girlfriend. Lucky's ADD didn't handle being patient, so she decided to take action and launched herself off the staircase, and in two bounding steps, threw the boy right into the portal with herself. She could hear Boton shrieking in surprise, but it soon faded away as they dimension-hopped.

Once appearing on the other side, the boys crashed in a heap and Lucky was able to land on her feet. The surrounding air was thick with haze, and seemed in a perpetual lightning storm with no rain. She turned to the boys as they gathered their wits, staring at her incredulously.

"Hi, I'm Millions Lucky and we're friends now!" she stated exuberantly. Focusing on Kuwabara, her face fell. "You are really unfortunate looking."

Kuwabara sputtered and Yusuke began cracking up hysterically, tears rolling down his face. "You're crazy, bitch. You know that?"

"Do you want help or not?"

"Um, fuck no, you're a girl!"

"Oh, don't like getting shown up by a girl? Being a dick doesn't make yours any bigger."

This time Kuwabara got to laugh and point. Before Lucky could continue on her insulting banter with Yusuke, the ground around them exploded, and from underneath crawled a hoard of creepy, robed beings that had shadows with glowing yellow eyes for faces and slimy clawed feet and hands. Their fangs were dripping saliva and it was all any of them could do to not throw up from the stench of rotting flesh.

"Shit just got real boys. Look alive!" Lucky called as they mobbed them in a flash.

There were so many it was hard to keep them off themselves, leaving them each unable to help each other. Lucky's hand-to-hand fighting skills were abnormal for a regular girl. She had a perfect fighting stance and the flexibility and strength to throw back the onslaught, preferring to use kicking maneuvers to punches. She had the muscle to grapple with a few, twist their arms behind them and then swing them back into their comrades. It was unbelievable, but the boys couldn't focus on her when they had their hands full themselves.

Right when they were being overwhelmed, two spheres of energy wandered down from the heavens and scattered the apparitions.

"The cavalry has arrived!" Lucky cried, and then she realized who one of the newcomers was: the guy from school, Minamino. The one all the girls wanted to date (for whatever reason that was, since dating for school kids in Japan is such a formal thing done in such a large, impersonal group she didn't understand the point). They all called him _bishounen_.

His friend seemed to have a bad air about him, which was confirmed in the next few minutes of their trivial conversation catching everyone up. It was all rather redundant, and Lucky grew irritated at how Kurama (Minamino Shuuichi, apparently, was the alias for a supernatural thief) was trying to oust her. Asshat.

She loaded her gun, and was expected to explain it to the others. She did, and she briefly went into mental condition while subtly (or not so subtly, depending how you take loading a gun and cocking it) reminding the boys she was not to be babied.

"I know you," Hiei spouted suddenly to Lucky. She inclined her head toward him to let him know she was listening. "You're that idiot who runs through the park like a maniac, leaping around and flipping off trees. You humans are stupid."

Kurama lost his shit in his calm manner. "Is that what you were doing when you found the portal?"

"Yeah," she indicated to her clothes. "Only today I stuck to the rooftops. My condition causes an infinity for climbing. I get a real high while doing parkour because it allows me to deal with this quirk in a relatively socially acceptable manner."

"And you decided to carry a large pistol with you while you do your parkour?" He clearly wasn't buying it.

"Keeps people from wanting to mug me, let me tell you…" Yusuke smirked at her. He figured they were a lot alike, and was glad for the extra camaraderie.

"I don't have a good feeling about her, Urameshi," Kuwabara hissed. Yusuke glared back.

"I don't know what her motives are but I am damn glad we have another helping hand. I don't really have much of a choice, here. I'm not wasting my energy picking a fight with her unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Do you think she's with our enemies?"

"Doubtful," Kurama intervened. "She doesn't seem to have a clue who we're up against, if her excitement to journey into such treacherous territory is any indication. And if Koenma had sent her, we would know. On the opposing end, perhaps she is comfortable with our surroundings, if she's of the Four Saint Beasts' side. This doesn't seem likely to be their doing, though, sending in a _human_ girl to lead us to danger, of which we are already forced. She's some member of a third party; but who she works for, I haven't any idea."

"If Fox Boy thinks it's okay for now, I'm more than okay with it."

With that they were greeted in the demon lair by a flying eye. Lucky vaguely wondered what would happen if you poked it, since it was only an eye. While wondering she had completely tuned out what the others were saying, and she watched it fly away and pull on a lever, only brought out of her thoughts at the sudden shaking of the stone hallway.

Fight or flight instinct kicked in, and she bolted forward while the others stayed rooted in their spots out of fear and confusion. She heard Kurama shout and stopped running when the shaking stopped. She had avoided being squished by the ceiling of that hallway. She stood in shock, staring at her new teammates.

"What do I do now?!" she cried, as they all glared at her, grunting with the effort of holding the ceiling up to prevent their demise.

"Whose side are you on?! You should be here suffering with us!" Yusuke snarled.

The eye chuckled and flapped around giddily. "Heavy, isn't it? Sensors in the corridor are most intelligent. And a complex assembly of gears adapts the ceiling's weight precisely to the strength of its victims. Of course, there is a catch…Just enough leeway remains for one person to escape, leaving their friends to be crushed by the weight."

It turned to view Lucky, eyeing her up (LAWL). "And you, my dear, will be escorted to Master Suzaku. We at Maze Castle feel that you may pose more of a threat in a group than individually." The wall she had been leaning on suddenly fell away, and it spun her around, revealing it to be a false wall with a room behind. She heard the boys shouting as she whipped around to the other side, the wall having come around to smack her from the front and threw her back into the hidden room.

Regaining her wits, she assessed she wasn't hurt. Still numb from the dose of painkillers she popped before leaving her apartment left her with shaking out her limbs to figure out if anything was broken and wiping hands on exposed skin to see if there was any blood. Finding nothing, she turned to assess the room and found she wasn't alone.

"Quite alright?" the demon asked. His manner of dress was definitely due to being some form of royalty, and in his hand he held a flute-like instrument. Red eyes and orange hair were not the most attractive duo in coloring, but his face was handsome.

"And would you be Suzaku?" she really didn't want to piss this guy off, but her words were laced with sarcasm. Really should work on that fear coping mechanism. "Honestly, your host could be a little more hospitable." She reached for her gun, about to give this guy a blast of holy water, when he smirked.

"That will not be necessary, little girl." Before she could aim, he waved a hand at her and she blacked out.

When she came to, she first realized the Tramadol was wearing off. She could finally begin feeling a forming migraine; and then all the little cuts and bruises she had sustained, as well as muscle fatigue.

"What the fuck did he do to me?" she moaned in exhaustion.

"I overloaded your senses with demon energy. Your frail, human body couldn't handle it." Once his voice violated her ears, she reached for her gun, only to brush her hand on empty leather.

"Oh, and of course I relieved you of your weapon." The clink of metal echoed through the dark chamber, the sound of him flipping her pistol around in his hand.

"I can't believe you had to sully your own hands to take care of me. Don't you have any grunts who could have grabbed me?" She noticed in the center of the room the only light emitted from a crystal ball, hovering in the air. Within it she could make out the forms of her teammates. She sighed in relief when she counted them all present. No bodies to take home yet.

He ignored her and continued making small talk. "Very surprising. Somehow they have chosen the correct door. We can hardly have it said that the Four Saint Beasts welcome guests so far into their home. I'm sorry, the _Two_ Saint Beasts is more accurate, now."

Glowing blue eyes appeared in the darkness to the side of Suzaku's red ones. Lucky's heart just about exploded out of fright at their sudden appearance. A fine but freezing mist infiltrated the room, and she passed out again as she inhaled.


	3. Kiss My Sass

A/N If you have not read my new story, Counting Stars, you do not know that my computer is taking a shit on me. I BARELY uploaded this, in fact it is frozen on my screen on my laptop while I am on my husband's. I can't even write in Word most of the time without it shitting out. So I might not update this for a while until we get my laptop in working condition again. Sorry :( but I do check email and stuff on my husband's laptop, so if you review (wink wink) I will know. Sorry if I don't respond to them, but do know that they are VERY appreciated! I love all of you who have favorited, followed, and reviewed this story :)

Chapter 3: "Kiss My Sass"

Lucky was startled awake again later to a high-pitched, eardrum-shattering scream. With a gasp her eyes flew open, and a few moments later she regained her most recent memories. In front of her the room was now well-lit, the crystal ball had been replaced with a huge screen on the wall behind a creepy throne. On the screen was a brunette girl being cornered by men with blue-tinged skin. Then the scene changed and the girl was running with Botan.

Yusuke stood in front of Suzaku, shaking with visible anger. Her gun was nowhere in sight. Then she caught a glimpse of something held by the foot of the bird perched on Suzaku's shoulder. Her gun! No one had realized she was conscious; a sneak attack would probably work.

She reached into her sneaker and pulled out a round capsule made of a sophisticated plastic. She twisted the two halves and threw it at her captor. It exploded on impact, tearing a chunk out of his leg. He screamed and she dashed to him, slamming her knee into his side to make him lose his balance and yanked her pistol away from the bird, who took off shrieking. Quickly switching feet she roundhouse kicked him in the head next.

"Millions!" Yusuke finally recovered from shock.

Suzaku laughed from his new position on the floor, that annoying, snobby chortling he was so fond of. Lucky pulled back the hammer of her pistol and fired. Instead of the direct hit it should have been, he just hovered enough to dodge. Now Yusuke was in his element, and his fingertip began glowing bright blue. Lucky stared wide-eyed, her lips stretching into a very eager smile.

"Funny thing about hanging in the air, it's really hard to dodge!" he flung his hand in front of him and pointed the pent-up energy at Suzaku. "Spirit Gun!"

Lucky laughed out of excitement. A rush of adrenaline hit her as she witnessed the most amazing thing in her life to date.

And then Suzaku punched the blast out of the way, redirecting it to the ceiling. Rubble and stone fell as the roof became less stable, and Yusuke stood stunned while she danced around the debris.

"Fucking Christ!" she cried. Not only was he fast, he could just hit attacks away like a volleyball! Fuck. It may be time to try out the unstable moves, unless Yusuke had another trick to flip, which she doubted.

Suzaku exchanged some words with his promiscuous bird, and the lightning began to flare up noticeably. The bird-rabbit-thing began giggling and taunting them, sing-songing about their imminent deaths. Annoyance and anger flared up in her, and without even having to look, Lucky pointed the barrel of her gun and shot it. When the holy water hit the stupid squawking thing, she disintegrated into nothing.

Suzaku was momentarily distracted by this. "You killed her!"

"No shit she was fucking annoying," she hissed back through clenched teeth. Immature mocking really got under her skin. "I'm fucking pissed! You're next!"

"I don't think so!" Lightening came down and struck Suzaku, which he reformed into a ball in his hand. "ARE YOU READY?!"

The dumbest thing she could have done at that moment was what she did as he threw the concentrated lightening at her. She swiped her hands over the now numerous cuts on her exposed calves and flung her hands out in front of her, screaming, "Blood Reflection!"

A crimson shield erected out of energy flowing from the blood on her hands. As his attack hit her shield, it bounced back and careened through the air headed for what was left of the ceiling, totally missing him.

"Fuck," she groaned as she hit the ground, out cold.

"What a weakling. She spends more time unconscious than awake."

"She's only human, Hiei." More like she had only been trained by humans, which had its limits.

"Bullshit, Kurama. You heard what Yusuke said she did. Normal humans don't possess that kind of power." Oh shit, she did do that, didn't she?

"Yes, it is a bit troubling. The items we found on her are also cause for concern. They're very high-tech weapons, not something the average civilian would be carrying around." Ah crap they found them. She was going to be interrogated.

"They're weapons?"

"Yes, these little balls are explosives. I can smell it. They're also very unstable, so I've wrapped them in leaves of a plant from the Makai to diffuse them. It's a miracle they didn't go off while they were in her shoe. And both her gun and ammo are so precise that if she did indeed smith them herself she has quite the abnormal talent." You don't even know about the extent of her talents, demon.

"So you're telling me we have a spy on your bed? You can stop pretending to be asleep, girl. We noticed your breathing pattern changed."

Lucky opened her eyes. She was in a bedroom, which she had gathered as she listened to their conversation. Kurama's bedroom, presumably. The main thing she noticed was the overwhelming scent of grass and woods.

She opened her mouth to ask a question.

"The others are all okay. Yusuke defeated Suzaku and almost died doing it, but Kuwabara loaned him enough life energy to stabilize. Boton and Keiko also survived their predicament. I also fixed up your arm, as there was a sizable chunk missing out of it that was haphazardly stitched back up with skill that falls quite short of a medical professional. Would you mind telling me what that self-inflicted injury was from?" She shook her head, taking interest in said injury wrapping, and poked at the herbal pack he had tucked in the bandages. He sighed and continued, "Now I must warn you that we intend on turning you over to Koenma, since you obviously know more than you let on. Would you like to come clean?"

"Not really." Kurama and Hiei exchanged a look, Hiei's turning into a scoff.

"I don't intend on turning her over to any sort of authority, Kurama. I refuse to do anything outside of the agreement to help those bastards. You're on your own." He walked to the window and disappeared in a flitting sound a moment later.

"He's a little ray of sunshine, isn't he?" she questioned. Kurama didn't respond but his eyes were hard. "Okay then. I'll be going…" His look changed from serious to downright frightening as he informed her he would be taking her to Spirit World.

"Over my dead body," was her response as she took off out the window, sans shoes, into the night. His bedroom, while on the 2nd floor, was not of so great a height that she couldn't army roll as she hit the soft lawn. Thank God for parkour.

Suddenly vines shot out from the lawn and ensnared her from the hips down. Kurama appeared at her side the next second. "I advise you come quietly. Whatever psychic talent you possess will not help you, and I was ordered to bring you in alive or not." She cursed. He pulled out a compact and contacted Boton.

Instead of Boton arriving a few minutes later, she was apprehended by Spirit World Special Defense Force. They shoved her through a portal and she came out in front of the doors to Koenma's office. Once escorted inside, she was left alone with the infant prince of the Spirit World.

"Hello, I'm Koenma and you have some explaining to do, young lady."

"I hardly think you're one to call me young," she retorted, eyeing the pacifier. He narrowed his eyes at her, her response to the situation was startling. Even Yusuke, dead, had more of a reaction to him and the situation than this girl.

"Let's get down to business," he offered, shoving the feeling of unease aside. "Can you tell me how it is you know what you know? We have searched for your name and basic information in our database, and nothing comes up. It's akin to not existing. Why is that? I know you know." Most people would have squirmed under his gaze, which was honed with hundreds of years of existence despite his childish physical features, but her bored expression remained.

"I don't know."

"If you cooperate, I'll grant you immunity. We have to know how you came across this knowledge. It's a huge breech in security. If every human knew about the demon and spiritual worlds more than they already guess at, if they knew how to channel their innate ability like you have—although I'm not entirely clear what your powers are—it'll incite many problems and a worldwide epidemic of chaos"

"I don't know."

With that, Koenma got frustrated. He jabbed at a button on his intercom. "Miss Millions needs a time out! Ogre, take her to a holding cell!" He turned back to Lucky. "You are going to be imprisoned so you can think about what you've done. Until you're ready to tell the truth, that's where you'll stay." Recognition finally struck in her.

"You can't do that! I have a life!"

"Will you give me the information I want?"

"I can't do that." Koenma sighed and ordered the ogre to take some of her blood for testing. She submitted her uninjured arm without complaint, knowing they won't find anything but the reside of prescription narcotics.

Subsequently she was dragged to the holding cell. It was the absolute epitome of a jail cell: a metal bed frame with a thin mattress, a sink, and a toilet but no window. The door was metal with a tiny window. She laid face down on the bed and began thinking over this mess.

Hours and a long nap later, her cell door opened to reveal Hiei. She squinted at him groggily, wondering why him after he had declared not to help "those bastards."

"Get up. I'm taking you to Koenma."

She groaned and rolled over, facing the wall. "No thanks, I already did that." Next thing she knew he was dragging her by the scruff of her shirt out into the hallway. After a bit of stumbling, she got on her feet and reluctantly followed him.

In the office, which was becoming far too familiar for her liking, Koenma tried again. "Who are you working for?"

"No one."

"Your blood was unable to be analyzed. Someone has tampered with it, and it has an unusual makeup."

"I know."

"We took pictures of your irises. They didn't match any in our database of humans. And you're not going to tell me how that happened?"

She shook her head. "I would have thought the all-knowing Sprit World would know this. Aren't you always watching, like Big Brother? Apparently your intelligence department isn't what it says it is, assuming you even have such a department. I'm surprised the Human World hasn't had its apocalypse yet with the way you run things."

He glared at her. "Hiei, read her mind."

Her head swiveled so fast she almost gave herself whiplash. "You can't do that—"

"Watch me." He tore his bandana off and his Jagan opened. Lucky looked into it, and had a seizure causing her to black out. It was a normal reaction to looking into the Jagan, so they left her unconscious.

Hiei pulled back a few seconds later. "There are black splotches in her memory; someone did a shitty job of tampering with her mind. I did see some scenes of military personnel training her. From her emotion imprints on these memories she has very little left of any sort of feelings other than contempt for others. There was also a more interesting flash of what seemed to be an operating room, and something like electro therapy. I thought humans had outlawed that decades ago."

Koenma's face was grim. "So she's a lab rat for the military? Who knows what kind of unstable powers she has. If she uses blood as her psychic attack, she's probably teetering on the brink of self-destruction. But now that we know who she's affiliated with, we can hack their system and find out what she's not telling us."

A few minutes of sophisticated hacking later brought Koenma to the information he needed, or at least most of it. Lucky finally came to, and reoriented herself and resumed her seat on the chair across from him, trying to recover from the lack of dignity of being left sprawled out on the floor.

She scanned his face, looking for what he was thinking. She needn't have wondered, for he was about to tell her.

"So you removed the tracking chip in your right arm, causing the injury Kurama treated."

Her poker face didn't waver. "Very good, you know how to hack the US Military database. Get to the point."

"I am going to make you an offer."

"I'm listening."

Koenma was honestly taken aback a little bit, and suspicion immediately flared. "What prompted this change of heart?"

"You know who I was and who I'm hiding from. They've terminated my status as spy—I've gone rogue, as I'm sure you see my status—but I can't hide from both them _and_ you. I need an ally, and from what I've learned from training for my initial mission, you're the stronger side. I generally stay away from alliances, because depending on others is foolish when the only person you can trust is yourself, and with my mind the way it is I can't even trust myself."

"I'm kind of lost. We didn't find all the answers we were looking for. They've tampered with your memory, your blood, and your DNA."

"No shit. But I can't tell you everything, I don't even know most of it. They wiped out my memory to prevent exactly what is happening right now."

"She's telling the truth," Hiei cut in. "The details are smeared. Her mission was to infiltrate the supernatural in Japan. Their government is so bent on figuring out a way to outdo all other countries' offenses and remain the world's superpower that they're messing with orphans' bodies to cultivate some race of super human to back their army up in case Japan unleashes a paranormal attack. It's called 'Project Paranormal.'"

"Project Paranoid is more like it," Lucky said. "Since you obviously are not affiliated with human government."

"And what made you go rogue?" Koenma pushed.

"Can we get back to the deal? I really do have a life."

"Okay," Koenma agreed, figuring pressing for answers would upset her and put everyone at danger. If her powers were linked to her emotions whatsoever, they would have an Armageddon on their hands. They needed her as an ally, not an enemy. "I will let you return to your life, in exchange for helping my growing team of Spirit Detectives." A light went on in Lucky's eyes.

"You mean that Yusuke kid?" she smirked and stood up. "I'll do it. Now get me the fuck home."

A few weeks after Lucky had returned home, she was out grocery shopping for her babysitting client. She had met the woman the first day moving into the city, while she was in the very same grocery store.

Yuki had two daughters: Jade, who was five, and Sakura, who was two and a half. Grocery shopping with two small children who had a bad influence on each other was near traumatizing. They had started pulling cans off the shelf into the cart while Yuki had her back turned, and she was unraveling from nerves. Lucky stopped by their cart and began distracting the girls, teasing them and telling them "big girls" would help their mother, not upset her. She persuaded them to put the cans back, where they belonged, labels facing out. Then she praised them, and they beamed at her. Love at first sight.

Their mother froze. Her girls respected this foreigner. They obeyed her. They were quiet! She promptly requested Lucky babysit for her. Lucky responded to the introductions stiffly, never meeting Yuki's eyes and avoided looking at her at all. Jade introduced herself and Sakura and Lucky warmed to them immediately.

Now three times a week after school and on the weekends Lucky is in charge of the little girls and does small errands for Yuki. They were nearing the checkout, and Sakura began chanting, "Buy me! Buy me!"

Jade protested, "She can't buy you, Sakura! You can't, Miss Lucky!" So Lucky picked her up and lightly swiped Sakura over the scanner, emitting a high-pitched "beep!" and placed her in the cart next to the groceries. She giggled madly.

Jade's eyes got wide, her mouth fell open—jealousy. She demanded she buy her too, so Lucky grabbed the handheld laser scanner and flashed it over Jade's tummy, emitting the same beep. The cashier was beyond annoyed but Lucky couldn't give a fuck less. The girls were amused and that's all that mattered to her.

Lucky glanced at the computer. "Huh, no price came up. That's cuz you girls are priceless!" They giggled in response. She smiled back and grabbed the long-handled tote bag full of miso ingredients and put it over her shoulder, lifted Sakura out with one arm and placed her on her hip and grabbed Jade's hand with her free one. They turned to leave the store and there stood Hiei, by the door. It startled Lucky, what the hell was he doing in a human grocery store?

"You babysit?" he asked. Her brows furrowed in annoyance and it made him smirk. He could be just as annoying as her.

"I do. Kids are better company than adults. They don't judge."

"I'm Jade!" the older girl said proudly at Hiei. He just stared back in his impartial and "you're-crap-under-my-shoe" way and it prompted Lucky to kick him in the shin, which is when he found out she wore steel-toe boots.

"Be nice," she snarled through gritted teeth. If he hurt the girl's feelings she would jump his shit. She was very protective of kids, partly because they were the only people who she could understand. She was on the same emotional level as them.

"Hiei," he got out through his own clenched jaw.

"He's…my friend," she explained to Jade, using the only descriptive word she would understand at her age for a relationship between two people besides married like mommy and daddy.

She began leaving the store and Hiei followed. "What are you even doing?" she asked.

"Giving you your next mission."

"Next mission? Did I even have an initial mission?"

"Saint Beasts was considered your initial mission."

"Uh, good to know…"

"You need to go to the oaf's house, they're watching the informational video."

"Well I can't leave now. I have other responsibilities. Their mom won't be back until three." It was currently ten am.

"Whatever. I don't care. I did my job." And he disappeared.

"Who was that?" Jade's age was showing. She couldn't remember their exchange a few minutes earlier.

"A jerk."


End file.
